Category: English Grammar

Gerunds are verbs that are used as nouns.
First, you take the base of the verb and you add –ing to it. Like this:Try making these verbs into their ‘ing‘ form: sleep and drink.

Now, you can use these verb forms as the subject or direct object of sentence. They will act like a noun.
As you can see, skiing is not the verb of either sentence. ‘Is’ is the verb in the 1st sentence and ‘like’ is the verb of the 2nd sentence. Skiing is the subject of the 1st sentence and the direct object of the 2nd sentence.Try making your own sentences with ‘dancing’ and ‘fishing’ as gerunds to get more practice!

Remember not all verbs that have an ‘ing’ ending are gerunds. They must be used as a noun. For example: I am skiing. This is the present progressive of ‘to ski,’ so it is not a gerund.

Can you see the difference?

If I had enough money, I would buy a mansion! (I wish!)

The above sentence is an example of a sentence with a conditional clause. There are 4 types of conditional clauses.

Type 0:
These are general truths or cause and effects.
‘If’ + a verb.

Examples:
If I eat too much, I will get fat. or
I will get fat, if I eat too much.

Type 1:
These are things that are probable, because they describe things that could possibly come true or they are true. These take place in the present or the future.
‘If”+ verb in present tense (conditional clause) + modal verb (main clause)

Example:
If you go home, you can sleep!

You can also have the same setup as above except use an imperative verb instead of a modal.

Example:
If you go home, Sleep!

The last kind of type 1 is made by: an imperative verb (conditional clause) + and/or + modal verb (main clause).

Example:
Go home and you can sleep!

Type 2:
This category is about unreal or hypothetical things that happen in the present. Even though the verb is in the past we are talking about the present.
If + verb (past) (conditional clause)+ modal (main clause)

Examples:
If you went home, you could sleep.
If I had a pen, I would write a letter.

You can use these modals with type 2: would, would have to, would be able to, could.

Type 3:
This type is about unreal things that happened in the past. (They did not happen.)
If + verb (past perfect) (conditional clause) + modal + verb (present perfect)(main clause)

Example:
If he had asked for directions, he would not have gotten lost.

Exercise:
Now think about what you would do if you won a million dollars! Write or say some sentences using the different types of conditional phrases.

When you look at these apples, what do you see?
I see a green apple and a red apple.
How can you compare them? Think of how they are similar and different.
Here are some sample comparisons I came up with: The green apple is smaller than the red apple. The red apple is darker than the green apple.

Which of these cartoon characters is the tallest?
The boy with blond hair (or Fred) is the tallest.
What can you say about the two girls?
You can say that the Brunette has shorter hair. You can say that the red head has longer hair. What can you say is similar between the boys?
Fred’s hair is as long as Shaggy’s hair.

Now look at these animals. Who has the longest neck and is the tallest animal?
The giraffe has the longest neck and is the tallest of all of the animals.
Now, compare the tails of the animals.
You could something like this: The monkey has a shorter tail than the alligator.
Try to make up some sentences on your own and post a comment if you have any questions.

I usually have all fun stuff on my blogs, but it’s time to practice some grammar. There will be times when you need to compare one thing to another and here is how to make comparisons in a nut-shell. The rules sections are very detailed rules, it’s not important to memorize them, I just want to make sure you have all of the information.

There are three types of comparatives: superiority, inferiority and equality. They are formed with adjectives or adverbs.

Examples:
I have a spicier pizza than you do – superiority
You have fewer shoes than I do – inferiority
He is as bald as that man over there. – equality

Superiority shows something it better than something else. The inferiority shows that something is worse than something else and equality shows that something is equal to something else.

Rules:
The rules for forming comparatives are: if there is only one syllable which ends in ‘e’, you add an ‘r’ to the end. If there is a word with only one syllable with one vowel and one consonant at the end of the word, an ‘er’ is added to the end, after doubling the last consonant. Other instances of 1 syllable words, add an ‘er’ to the end of the word. If there is a two syllable word ending in ‘y’, then change the ‘y’ to an ‘i’ and add ‘er’. If the word has two or more syllables and does not end in ‘y’, then use the word ‘more’ before the adverb or adjective.

Superlatives work similar to comparatives. There are superiority and inferiority forms of superlatives.

Examples:
That is the prettiest shirt in the store. – superiority
I like cabbage the least out of all of the vegetables. – inferiority

Rules:
The rules for forming superlatives are: if there is only one syllable which ends in ‘e’, you add an ‘st’ to the end. If there is a word with only one syllable with one vowel and one consonant at the end of the word, an ‘est’ is added to the end, after doubling the last consonant. Other instances of 1 syllable words, add an ‘est’ to the end of the word. If there is a two syllable word ending in ‘y’, then change the ‘y’ to an ‘i’ and add ‘est’. If the word has two or more syllables and does not end in ‘y’, then use the word ‘most’ before the adverb or adjective. ‘Least’ works the same way as ‘most.’

And like with everything there are exceptions to these rules.

Exercise: Look at the picture on this blog. What can you say about the 2 people? Make up a few sentences.

You can say: The man on the left is taller than the one on the right. The man on the right is shorter than the one on the left. The thinnest man is also the tallest man. The chubbiest man is also the shortest man.

I was just having a conversation with a friend on twitter about the difference between ‘awhile’ and ‘a while’. He wanted to know if there was a difference since they seem to mean the same thing. I thought I would post about this because it is interesting.

Simple answer = Yes, they are different.

Long answer = They are different because they are different parts of speech.

The word ‘while’ in ‘a while’ is a noun, it specifies some length of time like ‘a minute’ or ‘an hour’.

‘I slept for a while before breakfast.’ See how you can also say ‘I slept for a minute before breakfast.’ Because ‘minute’ and ‘while’ are both nouns. Also, notice how ‘a while’ has the preposition ‘for’ in front of it, which is normal for this phrase.

‘Awhile’ is an adverb which modifies a verb.

‘I slept awhile before breakfast.’ ‘Awhile’ here is referring to the verb. And even simplier terms, the word ‘awhile’ actually means ‘for a while’. So, even though they mean almost the same thing, you use them differently.

Please post a comment if you have any questions and I’ll be happy to talk more about this.

There are a few different kinds of conjuctions in English; however, I am focusing on coordinate conjunctions in this English lesson. Conjunctions are connecting words. They bind two parts of a sentence, into a single phrase within the sentence. Below is a list of the more common coordinate conjunctions used in English.

Vocabulary:

and – in addition to – I have a black and white kitten.
but – however – She is tired, but she’s unable to sleep.
or – alternative, used with either often – Do you like lobster or sushi better?
nor – used with neither – Neither Bob nor Sally want to be here today.
yet – however – Bob is a nice guy, yet sometimes I wonder about him.

Exercise:
Fill in the blank of each sentence with the correct conjunction.

1. Doris is hungry, ______ she doesn’t want to eat.
2. I love your beautiful pink ______ blue shoes.
3. I would like to drink either pepsi ____ coke.
4. Paul like neither cats _____ dogs.
5. Peter was first in his class,_____ he wasn’t successful.

Answers:
1. but (or yet)
2. and
3. or
4. nor
5. yet (or but)